By the end of this year, the Roads and Transport Authority will begin trials and preparations of the digital maps needed for Cruise autonomous vehicles, in preparation for the service’s launch in 2023.
To operate Cruise autonomous vehicles in the Emirate, the RTA has signed a joint venture agreement with the Cruise Company, a General Motors subsidiary that owns most of its autonomous vehicle operations. Cruise Autonomous Vehicles will offer taxi and e-Hail services in the Emirate. Dubai will be the first city outside of the United States to operate autonomous vehicles.
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) announced in a press release that a limited number of autonomous Cruise vehicles will be deployed in 2023 with the plan to have 4,000 deployed by 2030.
RTA Director-General, Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, announced the start of trials and preparation of digital maps necessary to deploy these vehicles by the end of the year.
Signing of the partnership agreement followed instructions from the Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
During the meeting, Al Tayer met with a delegation from the Cruise Company led by Anthony Gregory, vice-president of market development, Cruise, USA, to discuss the latest developments related to the use of Cruise autonomous vehicles for taxi and e-Hail services.
A number of other topics were also discussed, such as the supply of vehicles, operations, the latest developments of autonomous vehicles operating in San Francisco, and the production of Cruise Origin self-driving vehicles.
This is a major milestone towards achieving Dubai Smart Self-Driving Transport Strategy, which aims to transform 25 per cent of total mobility trips in Dubai into journeys on various self-driving transport modes by 2030. Efforts like this one enhance Dubai’s role as a pioneer in self-driving transportation.
